Method and System of Suggesting Spinal Cord Stimulation Region Based on Pain and Stimulation Maps with a Clinician Programmer

1 . A system for determining stimulation lead placements for a healthcare professional with respect to an implant of a neurostimulator device in a target patient, the electronic device comprising:

a memory storage component configured to store programming code; and

a computer processor configured to execute the programming code to perform the following tasks:

providing a human body model;

generating, in response to user input, a pain map over the human body model, wherein the pain map visually represents body regions of the target patient that are experiencing pain;

providing a dermatome map, wherein the dermatome map includes a visual correlation between regions of a human body and segments of a spinal cord;

comparing the pain map with the dermatome map; and

displaying recommendations regarding the implant of the neurostimulator device in response to the comparing.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the displaying recommendations comprises displaying recommendations with respect to at least one of: one or more target implant locations, an implant lead type, and stimulation parameters.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the providing the human body model comprises selecting the human body model from a database of human body models having varying physiological characteristics, and wherein the selecting is performed such that the selected human body model has a closest match to the target patient's physiological characteristics.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the generating the pain map comprises generating a three-dimensional (3D) pain map.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the providing the dermatome map comprises providing a three-dimensional (3D) dermatome map.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the providing the dermatome map comprises generating a customized dermatome map.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the generating the customized dermatome map comprises generating, in response to user input, a plurality of stimulation maps as different segments of the spinal cords undergo stimulation, wherein the stimulation maps visually represent body regions of the target patient experiencing stimulation, and wherein each stimulation map corresponds to the stimulation of a respective segment of the spinal cord.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the computer processor executes the programming code to further perform: uploading the customized dermatome to a database, wherein the uploading is performed so that physiological characteristics of the target patient are retained while biographical identification information of the target patient is removed before the uploading.

9 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the generating the customized dermatome map comprises selecting the dermatome map from a database of dermatome maps that correspond to pre-existing patients with different physiological characteristics.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the selecting is performed such that the selected dermatome map is associated with one or more pre-existing patients in the database who have at least one matching physiological characteristic with the target patient.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the selecting is performed such that the selected dermatome map is associated with one or more pre-existing patients who were previously treated by the healthcare professional.

12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the memory storage component and the computer processor are implemented in a portable electronic programmer, and wherein the system further comprises a neurostimulator communicatively coupled with the portable electronic programmer, the neurostimulator being configured by the portable electronic programmer to deliver a medical therapy to the target patient.

13 . The system of claim 12 , further comprising a remote electronic database communicatively coupled to the portable electronic programmer, wherein the remote electronic database stores a plurality of downloadable dermatome maps.

14 . A method of determining stimulation lead placements for a healthcare professional with respect to an implant of a neurostimulator device in a target patient, the method comprising:

providing a human body model;

generating, in response to user input, a pain map over the human body model, wherein the pain map visually represents body regions of the target patient that are experiencing pain;

providing a dermatome map, wherein the dermatome map includes a visual correlation between regions of a human body and segments of a spinal cord;

comparing the pain map with the dermatome map; and

displaying recommendations regarding the implant of the neurostimulator device in response to the comparing.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the displaying recommendations comprises displaying recommendations with respect to at least one of: one or more target implant locations, an implant lead type, and stimulation parameters.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the providing the human body model comprises selecting the human body model from a database of human body models having varying physiological characteristics, and wherein the selecting is performed such that the selected human body model has a closest match to the target patient's physiological characteristics.

17 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the generating the pain map comprises generating a three-dimensional (3D) pain map.

18 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the providing the dermatome map comprises providing a three-dimensional (3D) dermatome map.

19 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the providing the dermatome map comprises generating a customized dermatome map.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the generating the customized dermatome map comprises generating, in response to user input, a plurality of stimulation maps as different segments of the spinal cords undergo stimulation, wherein the stimulation maps visually represent body regions of the target patient experiencing stimulation, and wherein each stimulation map corresponds to the stimulation of a respective segment of the spinal cord.

21 . The method of claim 20 , further comprising: uploading the customized dermatome to a database, wherein the uploading is performed so that physiological characteristics of the target patient are retained while biographical identification information of the target patient is removed before the uploading.

22 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the generating the customized dermatome map comprises selecting the dermatome map from a database of dermatome maps that correspond to pre-existing patients with different physiological characteristics.

23 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the selecting is performed such that the selected dermatome map is associated with one or more pre-existing patients in the database who have at least one matching physiological characteristic with the target patient.

24 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the selecting is performed such that the selected dermatome map is associated with one or more pre-existing patients who were previously treated by the healthcare professional.

25 . A system of providing a recommended dermatome map for a healthcare professional to facilitate an implant of a neurostimulator device in a target patient, the system comprising:

an electronic server having a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising executable instructions that when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the steps of:

receiving a plurality of dermatome maps that are each customized to a different patient, wherein each dermatome map includes a visual correlation between regions of a human body and segments of a spinal cord, and wherein each dermatome is associated with a set of patient physiological characteristics but is devoid of patient biographical identification information;

establishing, on the electronic server, a dermatome map database based on the plurality of received dermatome maps;

identifying a recommended dermatome map in response to a user request; and

sending the recommended dermatome map to a remote electronic device of the user.

26 . The system of claim 25 , further comprising: one or more remote electronic programmers communicatively coupled to the electronic server, the electronic programmers being configured to generate the plurality of dermatome maps and send the dermatome maps to the electronic server.

27 . The system of claim 26 , further comprising: one or more neurostimulators communicatively coupled with the one or more remote electronic programmers, the one or more neurostimulators being configured by the one or more remote electronic programmers to deliver medical therapies to human patients.

28 . The system of claim 26 , wherein the electronic programmers are configured to send the dermatome maps to the electronic server in a manner such that, for each dermatome map, the physiological characteristics of its corresponding patient are retained while biographical identification information of the corresponding patient is removed.

29 . The system of claim 25 , wherein the identifying the recommended dermatome map comprises one of:

selecting, from the dermatome map database, a dermatome map whose associated patient physiological characteristics most closely match physiological characteristics of the target patient;

selecting, from the dermatome map database, a dermatome map whose associated patient had been previously treated by the healthcare professional; and

generating the recommended dermatome map by averaging a subset of dermatome maps that each have at least one matching patient physiological characteristic with the target patient.

30 . The system of claim 25 , wherein the dermatome maps are each generated based on a plurality of stimulation maps.

31 . The system of claim 25 , wherein the executable instructions cause the processor to further perform the step of: providing, in response to user request, a human body model whose physiological characteristics match physiological characteristics of the target patient.

32 . The system of claim 31 , wherein the human body model is provided in a three-dimensional (3D) form.

33 . The system of claim 25 , wherein at least a subset of the dermatome maps in the dermatome database is in a three-dimensional (3D) form.

34 . A method of providing a recommended dermatome map for a healthcare professional to facilitate an implant of a neurostimulator device in a target patient, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of dermatome maps that are each customized to a different patient, wherein each dermatome map includes a visual correlation between regions of a human body and segments of a spinal cord, and wherein each dermatome is associated with a set of patient physiological characteristics but is devoid of patient biographical identification information;

establishing a dermatome map database based on the plurality of received dermatome maps;

identifying a recommended dermatome map in response to a user request; and

sending the recommended dermatome map to a remote electronic device of the user.

35 . The method of claim 34 , wherein the identifying the recommended dermatome map comprises one of:

selecting, from the dermatome map database, a dermatome map whose associated patient physiological characteristics most closely match physiological characteristics of the target patient;

selecting, from the dermatome map database, a dermatome map whose associated patient had been previously treated by the healthcare professional; and

generating the recommended dermatome map by averaging a subset of dermatome maps that each have at least one matching patient physiological characteristic with the target patient.

36 . The method of claim 34 , wherein the dermatome maps are each generated based on a plurality of stimulation maps.

37 . The method of claim 34 , further comprising: providing, in response to user request, a human body model whose physiological characteristics match physiological characteristics of the target patient.

38 . The method of claim 37 , wherein the human body model is provided in a three-dimensional (3D) form.

39 . The method of claim 34 , wherein at least a subset of the dermatome maps in the dermatome database is in a three-dimensional (3D) form.

40 . The method of claim 34 , wherein the dermatome maps are received from one or more portable electronic devices, and wherein for each dermatome map, the physiological characteristics of its corresponding patient are retained while biographical identification information of the corresponding patient is removed.